The Nightmare Never Ends
by aukinoravengence
Summary: This story takes place in Mirai Trunks' timeline, and it's basically a collection of the thoughts Trunks and Gohan might've had during their continuous stuggle against the androids.
1. Prolouge

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The Nightmare Never Ends**

_Mini-story 1 - Prolouge_

A calloused hand fell on his shoulder, and he looked up into the face of his mentor. Gohan wore a mask of sadness, one that formed after so many years of watching death and destruction…Trunks knew it well, and he had seen such a look in his own face many times. A dull pain coursed through his muscles from their latest training session, but it was nothing like the deep cut in his heart, created by a continuous battle with enemies far stronger than him. He thought of himself as completely useless, and surely Gohan didn't need a little kid like him tagging along…but he had to help. He couldn't just sit there and watch those he loved the most die right before his eyes! He wouldn't simply stand by and watch as his beloved world fell to pieces! So, he trained in the hope of becoming more powerful, so that he could help Gohan fight those monsters, and defeat them once and for all.

A shrill scream alerted them both to what was happening outside. "We'd better get going," Gohan said, the rage building up in his voice. "Come on, Trunks!" Both student and mentor flew out of the broken window at a great speed, far beyond the capacity of a normal human. Now, there were even more deaths to add to the countless others who had lost their lives to the Androids…_When will this nightmare end?_

_- - - - - - _

With a half-lidded eye, Trunks watched as his mentor and dearest friend battled them, and knowing that he can't do anything to help. He tried to move an arm, but all of his muscles screamed in protest to even the slightest movement. That last attack from Android 18 really did him in; he was totally spent, yet Gohan was still fighting those monsters, doing everything possible to stop their reign of terror. This was definitely one of those times where he felt completely useless, that he's nothing but a heavy burden to be carried…

Golden flames erupted from around Gohan's muscular form, energy radiating from within. His eyes had turned a piercing blue, and he stared at the Androids, who were now used to the sight of his transformation. All three of them flew up in the air and immediately exchanged punches and kicks, all in a blur of movement that a normal eye wouldn't be fast enough to see. Trunks had seen it all before; it was the same battle every time. It was all the same, even how he was laying, stomach down, in the middle of the shattered street, his bruised face forced to the side by the hard pavement.

Trunks' eyes slowly drifted shut, his mind going into a state of dreamless sleep. He awoke sometime later in a room he had become quite familiar with: the infirmary inside the building of Capsule Corporation. He looked to his right and saw that Gohan was bandaged and now resting in the bed beside him, just like usual. Silently, Trunks answered his own sad question; _The nightmare will never end…it just keeps going on and on, until we're dead…_

- end -


	2. Reflection

**The Nightmare Never Ends**

_Mini-story 2 – Reflection_

They stared each other down on the rocky plain, each one thinking of how they could get through the other's defenses. Once decided, they somehow appeared in the middle of where they stood just one moment before, and, in flurry of movement, they fought.

A giant hand made contact with his cheek, forcing his head to the side, his lavender hair flying out in all directions. In return, he tried to knee Gohan in the stomach, but the man's hand fell down to catch it and use his leg to throw Trunks into a near pile of rocks. "Aw, c'mon! I have to at least be able to hit you once!" Trunks whined, but Gohan just laughed one of his hearty laughs and replied with another punch to the face, forcing Trunks' head to the other side. Trunks knew, though, that his laugh was a sad one, for they both knew that if he couldn't even hit Gohan, then there was no way he could stand up to the Androids…_But we knew that anyway, just from the experience I've had so far with those monsters…_

The two of them sparred for a little while longer before heading back home, tired and hungry after the day's activities.

- - - - - -

He wrapped his towel tighter around himself as he stepped from the hot, humid air of the bathroom into the cool air of his bedroom. As he casually put on his usual gray pants, now freshly clean from the robots' cleaning, he paused for a second to look at his reflection in the mirror hanging on his closet door. What stared back at him surprised the boy, a dark realization coming to his mind…

Trunks didn't have the eyes that a child his age should have. He had eyes that had seen far worse than most; death, destruction, bodies lying in the ruins of once beautiful cities…The sad image of that poor little girl, her blonde hair matted with crimson blood, her hands still holding on to her torn teddy bear while her face showed an expression of pure horror, came to his mind, and tears started to roll down his cheek, still scarred from their last battle. _Why did it have to happen this way? Why couldn't those darn androids just leave us alone? Maybe…maybe if Son Goku had lived…_His shallow tears soon gave way to sobs, his emotions pouring out from inside of him.

Gohan watched from the doorway, wanting so badly to comfort the boy, but knowing all too well that this was part of the hard process of getting stronger – hopefully, strong enough to beat the Androids…

- end -


	3. Grave of the Unknown

**The Nightmare Never Ends**

_Mini-story 3 – Grave of the Unknown_

He stood in front of the makeshift grave in the backyard, his thoughtful blue eyes studying every detail of the painted rock, and wondering for the hundredth time who this man was and what he was like. His father had died when he was too young to remember, fighting those terrible Androids, trying to stop them from causing the destruction of his once-beautiful world. Vegeta went out like a true warrior; he lost to the strongest evil the world had ever seen…an honorable death, for sure. All that Trunks knew about his father was that he was the prince of the Saiyan race, a warrior race that was betrayed by the creature known as Freeza. Both his mother and mentor said the same things about him – proud and as stubborn as a mule, but very powerful. There had to be more, though…

_I wonder if he would be proud of me, if he saw how I was fighting the Androids_, Trunks thought, but he dismissed it. How could anyone be proud of him when he couldn't even land a punch on them? If there was anyone to be proud of, it had to be Gohan; after all, he'd fought harder than anyone to try to destroy those monsters. _No,_ he thought, _no one would be proud of me…especially not my father. He'd be saying that I need to try harder, that I have to work at it, but I'm trying the best I can! I work so hard to train, and Gohan is trying to hard to teach me…yet I can't seem to do it…I can't beat them…_

Warm, salty tears started to flow from the teenager's eyes as he thought about how he was going to fail them, all of them. The fate of the whole world rested upon his shoulders, a burden heavy with the guilt of letting so many people die already. Too many innocent lives have been lost to those murderous beasts, and he was to blame. If he only trained harder, if he was only stronger, if only there were one instead of two…there were so many things that he wished he had – time, strength, endurance, etc. – but they were so out of reach at this point. How could he even hope to defeat them?

_I'm convinced…we're all doomed, _was his last thought before he headed back inside his dear home, sobbing with all the pain and sadness the Androids had brought upon him. As he collapsed on his hard mattress, he vaguely realized that he had forgotten to leave the flowers he had brought with him to the grave, but by this time, he no longer cared; all he wanted to do now was sleep, to temporarily leave his troubles somewhere else while he drifted off into a dreamland where he could be happy. And maybe, just maybe, he would see his father there, standing as tall and proud as the king he rightfully is.


End file.
